Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Global Trust Asset Management LLC

Global Trust Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,245 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.4% of Global Trust Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Global Trust Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Rebalance LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 6,340 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,834,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the second quarter. Flagship Private Wealth LLC now owns 913 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 9,640 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,255 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $475.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $508.46.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $436.60. 54,224,020 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,730,301. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's 50 day moving average is $427.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.42. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $366.50 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.